1. Technical Field
This invention relates to jump ropes and, more particularly, to an automated jump rope exercising device for enabling a single user to independently practice jump rope activities.
2. Prior Art
For many people, the thought of jump rope conjures up wistful memories of childhood, or visions of prizefighters training for a bout—but for thousands of youth worldwide today, jump rope, or skipping, is both serious business, and serious, joyful sport. Although some historians posit an origin for jump rope in the ancient rope making arts of India and China, its origins are in fact obscure. It is known that jump rope arrived in colonial New York with Dutch immigrants in the 1600s, and took firm root there. Here was a sport that required, at minimum, one child and one rope. Jump rope could involve three or more participants, two twirling a longer rope between them, and one skipping as the rope whirled overhead and underfoot. With two ropes twirling, the skipper went “Double Dutch”, and the skipping grew more athletic and more complicated. Jump rope gave rise to skipping rhymes, the rhythmic, sing-song chanting of participants in time to the rope's revolutions.
Today, youth all over the world compete in international skipping competitions. Contemporary skippers have incorporated everything from the gymnastic moves of break dancing to the rhythms of hip-hop into their routines, and what began as a children's game has become a big-time sport. Whether skipping solo or with friends, jump rope offers a wholesome and positive social life, quite often to youth in the difficult neighborhoods of inner cities.
If there is any shortcoming or drawback associated with jump rope, it is simply that the more sophisticated forms of skipping have conventionally required at least three participants—one to skip, and two others to twirl the rope(s). It is also possible to fasten one end of the rope to a fixed object, and have one person twirl the rope while the other skips—the twirler, often, being the parent of the skipper.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,376 to Weston discloses a motorized jump rope apparatus that includes a first support assembly which includes a first end portion adapted to be supported by a ground surface. A battery-powered motor assembly is connected to the first support assembly, and a first jump rope assembly is connected to the battery-powered motor assembly at its rotational axis. The first end portion of the first support assembly may include a threaded portion adapted to screw into a ground surface. The first jump rope assembly includes a first mid-portion connected to the battery-powered motor assembly at the rotational axis of the battery-powered motor assembly. The second support assembly may further include an output drive assembly which is connected to the jump-rope-receiving portion. A second jump rope assembly and a third support assembly added to the second support assembly and the first jump rope assembly permit two jumpers to jump simultaneously. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not enable a user to disengage the rope from the motor after the rope is caught in the user's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,123 to Davis discloses an apparatus which provides an automatic method for turning both ends of jump rope. Providing a hands free method for turning a jump rope eliminates the need for parents or other children to turn the rope manually. The automatic jump rope apparatus consists of a pair of poles which are spiked on the bottom and fit in weighted bases so that they provide stability on flat surfaces and can be removed from the bases and driven into the ground to provide stability on uneven surfaces. One pole holds one end of the rope and allows it to be turned as rotational force is applied to the other end of the rope by a spring loaded crank assembly located on the opposite pole. The spring loaded crank assembly could be replaced by a battery powered motor which would provide the rotational force necessary to turn the rope. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not enable a user to disengage the rope from the motor after the rope is caught in the user's legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,604 to Verdun discloses a jumping apparatus for developing a human's alacrity and also provides an aerobic, anaerobic, and physical exercise to the body. A unique and innovative piece of exercise equipment consisting of a hard plastic or fiberglass-coated octagonal base and a four-sided molded A-frame. An internal battery powers a motor that would be designed to rotate or pulsate back and forth at 180 and/or 360 degrees driving the telescoping shaft. As the individual activates the apparatus, the horizontal extension bar would pulsate or rotate at a desired pace, allowing the jumper to jump over the horizontal extension bar in the defined area. Unfortunately, this prior art reference does not enable a user to simultaneously rotate two jump ropes.
Accordingly, a need remains for an automated jump rope exercising device in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a device that is convenient and easy to use, is durable yet lightweight in design, is versatile in its applications, and provides a single user to independently practice jump rope activities.